ACE invests funding to increase arts and culture

Arts Council England (ACE) has announced an investment of GBP17.5m (€18.9m) National Lottery funding to help create arts and cultural experiences in areas across the UK.

A total of 12 projects that reach areas of England where communities engage less with arts and culture will benefit from the funding.

The Creative People and Places programme (CPP Programme) will take place between 2019 and 2023 with each project to be co-created with the local people. Four of the projects will be delivered in the North, three in the Midlands, two in the South East, one in the South West and two in London. Each project will be developed and delivered by a team of diverse regional partners who will enable people to shape the arts and cultural environment in their areas.

Laura Dyer, deputy CEO places & engagement, said: “Creative People and Places is a hugely important part of how we help create opportunities for communities right across the country to meaningfully engage with arts and culture. I know firsthand the long-lasting impact that Creative People and Places has had on the lives of people living in the 21 locations currently receiving funding, and I’m delighted that we are able to add 12 more places to that network – ensuring even more people will get the chance to create and experience arts and cultural activity relevant to them.”

Some of the new towns included in the projects are Rotherham, Middlesbrough, Basildon, Sedgemoor, Bradford and Newcastle-under-Lyme. To help with the projects, a number of sponsors have come on board such as Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Middlesbrough FC, while a separate grant of nearly GBP300,000 (€325,000) has been awarded to Museums Northumberland to deliver the CPP Peer Learning Programme from 1 November 2019 to 31 March 2022, which supports learning between existing projects.

Since 2012, 800 local partners have delivered three million engagements with Creative People and Places, among the partners involved were a haulage firm and housing association.